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Week 14: Chad's Awesome Dungeon's and Dragons Adventure That Everybody Loves
Week 14: Chad's Awesome Dungeon and Dragons Adventure that Everybody Loves Freestone: 5/26-5/29 AS 954-957 When we left off... "Team Good Guys" finished their rest in Phandalin, resupplied, and headed out over the mining trails toward Wyvern Tor. You did not inform Harbin Wester of your plans, but it's easy to imagine that he has a half chub right now. Clyde guided you back to a familiar copse of trees, where you made camp for the night, only to be awoken by your watchman when a heavy mist rolled in. Deep in the mist, you saw the silhouette of a tall, broad, armored man who was stalking toward you with purpose. He was seemingly distracted by something that you could not see, and vanished before you got a clean look at his face. Selgaard wasn't able to fall back to sleep, and nobody was particularly happy the next morning with the mystery of the Mist '''still unresolved. The party broke camp and approached the river, where you discovered an abandoned raft. Using the raft to float downstream, you identified what you thought would be an advantageous place to ford. While Quintus and Nars played a rousing game of grain, chicken, fox, Ulfar, Selgaard, and Clyde spied a nude woman of unnatural grace diving into a near-by lake. Ulfar readied for combat, but knew better than to push his luck by wading in. Everyone else agreed, but poor, young Nars was too excited at the prospect of boobs, and was drawn in by the creature. There was a slight panic when it looked like the youngest of your company might drown, but he got out of the water and had a whole new outlook on adulthood. Instead of attacking the orcs at sundown, when you hypothesized that they might be most active, the group spent the night in an adjacent woods. At the border between the Tor and the Deep Wood, anything was possible... but actually, it was a pretty great night. Especially for Nars, who had a very wet dream. As Ulfar fiddled with his lock picks in the morning, he was approached by an abnormally graceful and intelligent jackal. They had some kind of connection, because Ulfar seemed to be talking to it, and Nars' talent with woodland creatures allowed him to glean some of the conversation as well. Ulfar didn't really understand what had happened, but he named this Best Dog '''Albrich, and asked him to help you scout. Albrich's nose led him right to a cave, and after bum-rushing the guard you set up a surprisingly competent ambush. The ogre and war chief went down fast, causing some of the less fierce orcs to flee. Selgaard was not about it, and he cut them down with great relish and efficiency. It looked as though one might have escaped, though... Until the Best Dog jumped up and bit its neck open. Good job, Albrich! Upon investigating the cave, you discovered a pathway leading to a lower cavern. It took nearly an hour of traveling under ground to reach the edge of a hot, lava-filled chamber. Albrich suggested that Ulfar might be best served by calling the Other Dog from Down There given the circumstances, and he decided to try. Nobody liked the Bad Dog; even Ulfar wasn't really thrilled by this Albrich, but the black jackal was very much at home in the fiery terrain. Selgaard and Clyde executed a pincer movement with Quintus and Nars, pinning down a trio of orcs while Ulfar assassinated a lone cleric at the base of a statue. You correctly identified the idol as an image of Grummsh, and Clyde dropped a bubble of silence to prevent the other priests from invoking prayers. The orcs were quick to close ranks and press their advantage, but after Quintus shoved the priests into lava, things fell apart for them pretty fast. Stuff also got a little dark for Nars, who wasn't used to being in a space that magnified his rage like this. After the Orc battle master fell, Nars kept swinging, killing the Bad Dog and taking a swing at his friends before he managed to clear his head. Quintus collected a few Orcish Scrolls from the base of the statue, while he and Ulfar worked to knock off its head. Selgaard, Clyde, and Nars spotted some stony eggs in the cave, but couldn't identify them. So instead of worrying, they began the long ascent back to the surface, taking a chest full of offerings to Grummsh with them (See "Loot" email from August 7). Toppling Grummsh's altar caused the magma to rise, and Quintus and Ulfar beat feet to join the rest of the group before it got too high. Nars was asked to translate the scrolls that Quintus had found, but he didn't understand the dialect. Ulfar struggled both with the quantity of treasure (and his desire to steal it) and with the question of whether or not he could justify borrowing the Bad Dog again. He decided to try asking for a Good Dog instead, and was a little surprised when his... request? prayer? interplanar breaking and entering attempt? was a success. The Good dog was very polite, and it took an immediate shine to Quintus. It probably would have liked Nars as well, except that he'd snuck away to find the naked water lady while everyone was busy counting copper pieces. The rest of the group searched for Nars when they noticed him missing, but he wasn't where you expected him to be. Clyde took the opportunity to get in some good meditation at the peak of the Tor, and Nars met a creature who called herself The Lady of the Lake. Only he truly knows what transpired, but he came back with a seriously huge and magical sword, so presumably being her Champion is a net win for the beefy teenager. Finally, after reconvening, you had a difficult conversation about what to do next. Phandalin is safe... sort of. They don't really have a military or a lord, and there's a Green Dragon and a Banshee nesting not too far from them, but Redbrands aren't running around murdering people and selling slaves. Selgaard wanted to go kill the dragon for the thrill of the fight, and Nars, Ulfar, and Quintus agreed that that was the right choice (give or take some errands in Holzdorf). Clyde, however, remained adamant that he would NOT, under any circumstances, be fighting a dragon. The party attempted to convince him, and may have made some headway, but he did not give a firm commitment to the "Kill a Dragon" plan. Around Town Titties in the lake.